"Every researcher has known the frustration or eventually will: you can read every letter in the town's name except the first! The page is torn or eaten away, the ink faded, the initial letter overly artistic, the microfilm of poor quality. Then begins the process of guessing what the first letter or syllable is. The Reverse Alphabetical Index offers a quick solution to the problem. You can construct the name letter-by-letter backwards, using the legible letters and working from the end toward the beginning. If the name as you first spell it cannot be found on a map or in a gazetteer, compare it to other names with similar endings and you will likely find the correct version. What could have been a mountain in your research has just been reduced to a molehill."--Page [4] of cover.

Language Note:

Instructions on use of reverse alphabetical index in both English and German.